New Zealand and New Caledonia square off in what should be a hotly contested final at the OFC U-16 Men’s Championship in the Solomon Islands tomorrow.
The defending champions New Zealand and their opponents have already booked their place at next year’s FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup in Qatar.
The two teams played out a goalless draw in the Group stage of the competition and New Zealand coach martin Bullock is highlighting one aspect his side need to improve on in the title decider.
“I think we played pretty well in that group game, we did everything but score. New Caledonia defended incredibly well, so we didn’t have many clear-cut chances, so we need to create those chances.” Bullock said.
“We’re not here to just qualify for a World Cup, one of our goals at the beginning of the tournament was actually to win the tournament. I think young players have a lot of development in football and rightly so, and I think it’s good at these tournaments that they have that feeling of more pressure and wanting to win to get to a World Cup but also lift the trophy.”
New Zealand have looked every bit the tournament favourites so far, showcasing pace, technical quality and depth across their squad. Their defence has conceded just a handful of chances throughout the campaign, and they are yet to concede a goal.
But Bullock says the standard of competition has increased each year.
“It’s been tough, which is pleasing. We don’t want to come to international tournaments and have it be a gimme that we qualify. We want it to be tough, we want our opposition to bring everything they can to the table, which they have and its full credit to them. I think we’ve seen a lot of improvement over the last couple of years from every nation. I think that FIFA, Technical Directors and OFC deserve a lot of credit for helping nations be better prepared and have better player identification programmes in place to enable their players to reach the next level.” Bullock reflected.
New Caledonia have shown they are more than capable of upsetting the balance. After a strong performance against New Zealand in Group play, Frances Watrone’s side tough out a penalty shootout victory over Fiji in the semi-finals.
“I congratulated the boys straight after the match. I’m really proud of them and the work we’ve put in, from when we left New Caledonia right up until today. There’s no secret formula for winning a final. But we’ll give everything in this match, because no New Caledonian national team has ever won this tournament. I told the boys after the win over Fiji that we had to switch focus straight away and set our sights on this trophy. This is a trophy no New Caledonian side has ever lifted. Keep supporting us, stay behind the team, because we’re playing for all of New Caledonia.” Watrone said.
Third Place Playoff Fiji v Papua New Guinea
If the final promises fireworks, the third-place playoff carries its own massive stakes. The winner of Fiji v Papua New Guinea will join New Zealand and New Caledonia in qualifying for next year’s FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup in Qatar.
Fiji have had to recover from a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat by New Caledonia in the semis and coach Sunil Kumar has had the task to get his players up again.
“I know it was painful, so we have told the can you transfer that pain into positive energy for the next match. As we know, the World Cup spot is at stake, and then we’ll go and fight again. Another 90 minutes, we still got a chance to get our dreams alive, and the boys are aware of that and they’re ready to fight tomorrow.”
Fiji defeated PNG 2-0 in the Group stage, but Kumar reads little into that result.
“I’ve told the boys, the last pool game against PNG, it was a different game, different moment,) pool stage. Tomorrow is like a final for both of us, as one team makes it to the World Cup. So, a totally different game. But yeah, we have analysed our game against PNG and we’ve seen what our strengths are, what are some areas we really need to improve.”
Papua New Guinea, meanwhile, have impressed with their resilience and spirit. Their physical approach and willingness to battle for every ball has made them one of the toughest sides to break down, and they’ll be determined to seize a historic qualification spot.
They performed well against New Zealand in a 2-0 semi-final loss and coach Mathew Witu is upbeat.
“It’s very exciting for the boys. Going to Tonga for the Qualifiers was not easy, and we have been working very hard. We have prepared very well and getting to the semi-finals is very tough. Now we are playing for third and we just have to give everything that we have. We are hoping the country gets behind the PNG team.” Witu said.
Cover Photo Credit: OFC Media via Phototek